Dark NL

So we had a city wide blackout yesterday and Boyfriend and I had to learn how to fend for ourselves without internet, cell phone chargers and hot chocolate. It was a harrowing experience to say the least.  We lit a bunch of candles and played board games and spent most of the day hiding under blankets in layers of clothing because it was freezing. We could use our phones once or twice an hour to check in with facebook which made us feel less like we were in the early 1900’s but our batteries were dying and it got to the point where we could only keep our phones for emergencies. I begrudgingly put my iPhone in my pocket and tried to pretend facebook wasn’t just one 3G click away and spent the whole day anxiously wondering if I had any new Word Press followers.

Around supper time we decided to venture out and find somewhere with power to have a bite to eat. We found a restaurant but considering it was one of the only places in the city with power the wait for food was rather long. I bore easily and was already bored from a day without technology so I spent most of the wait staring at the fish tank behind Boyfriend’s head while he stared at the television screen behind mine. We barely spoke a word to each other because we were so engrossed in our own activities but then I had a question that I just needed to know the answer to. This conversation followed:

Me: How do fish talk to each other?
Boyfriend: *sigh*
Me: Morse code through bubbles?
Boyfriend (distracted because he’s still watching tv): I doubt it.
Me: Can they like…have a chat?
Boyfriend: I doubt that too.
Me: What about dogs? Can dogs have a chat?
Boyfriend: I don’t know…
Me: Like if a dog is around another dog can they bark and understand each other and have a chat that way?
Boyfriend: I don’t think so.
Me: But that must be so lonely for dogs…to be surrounded by others of their kind and know that they are trying to talk to each other but can’t.
Boyfriend: I don’t think they can notice that.
Me: No? They can’t feel that void? They can’t have a feeling that something is missing?
Boyfriend: They don’t have that capability. Their brains don’t work like humans.
Me: But gorillas can talk to each other like humans.
Boyfriend: Yes but gorillas aren’t dogs.
Me: I’m sad for dogs right now.

*I proceed to turn on 3G on my iphone and fiddle around with my phone

Boyfriend: Are you going to use your dying phone to google whether dogs can talk to each other now?
Me: Yes. I googled it. Dogs talk to each other in their own way. Mostly physical.
Boyfriend: Yes.
Me: That’s good. They aren’t as alienated as I thought. I won’t be sad for dogs now.

*Boyfriend has had enough of the fish-dog conversation and decides to change the subject.

Boyfriend: I’m watching football.
Me: You watch football?
Boyfriend: I do now, because it’s on the tv. And I’m trying not to use my phone in case I have to use it later as a flashlight to get you in the house.

*I go back to staring at the fish tank for a moment, ignoring Boyfriend’s last comment.

Boyfriend: My index finger hurts.
Me: It’s your mouse clicking finger. It’s from clicking your mouse.
Boyfriend: Probably. I’m sure years of being a computer-scientologist are catching up to me.
Me: That’s sad.
Boyfriend: It’s okay, I’ve got football now. Football is a sport.
Me: How’s football going?
Boyfriend: I don’t know. You distracted me and I forgot about football.
Me: Do you even understand football?
Boyfriend: Yes, because I have friends who like it so I had to learn what sports were.
Me: LOOK THE FISH ARE SYNCHRONIZE SWIMMING!
Boyfriend: Oh for fuck sakes…

We finally got our meals and Boyfriend watched more football while I contemplated both fish communication styles and why Boyfriend thought I made a good companion and then we ventured back into the cold to find shelter for the night. We welcomed ourselves over to a friend’s house because she had a fireplace and we all froze together in her living room for hours until we decided it was time to brave the weather once more and go home. The second we opened the front door to leave her house all of the power came back on. We laughed but I was secretly pissed that the power couldn’t have returned a couple hours sooner so we could have watched Jurassic Park together. To me it is still Christmas and no Christmas is complete without a Jurassic Park marathon.